When is digital going to get the soul of music?

Yeah, I used to think that digital couldn't or wouldn't be able to convey the soul and emotion of analog. I'm happy to report that I was completely wrong.

The acid test for me is whether the reproduced music can affect me emotionally enough to bring tears to my eyes. Mind you, this happenstance is rare enough with extremely competent all-analog systems.

But recently, my digital source has managed that feat and managed it on several occasions. This is how I can tell that digital is getting extremely close to the live performance -- provided you use the right gear and set it up properly. This really did not happen until I tried my latest system configuration. So it is possible and it can be done if you're lucky enough to hit on the right combination of components (and the synergy is with you).
I'm not going divulge all the components I'm using at this time, but I can tell you it's an all solid-state system using NuForce Reference 9 amplifiers into VMPS RM30 speakers. Listening to it, I don't miss tubes, and I don't miss vinyl, or even R to R tape.

Now I'm off to the CES. I'll see you all later.

The soul is in the artist's performance. Whether a stereo system can convey it or not, specifically, whether or not the digital format is capable of preserving the soul of the original performance is the question here. My feeling, from listening, is that it can.

And whether or not a specific individual is capable of grasping the "soul" of a particular artist's performance is yet another matter.

Guidocorona,

You make a good point and I mostly agree with what you said. I think the "soul" of the music results from a good collaboration or synergy between the composer and the artist. And if the recording engineer and the technology he employs can preserve this "soul," and the playback system can pass it with a minimum of distortion and alteration then the "soul" of the music is finally communicated to the music system listener.